Page:A Selection of Original Songs, Scraps, Etc., by Ned Farmer (3rd ed.).djvu/126

 

The party broke up, and the village was glad,
And said what a nice pleasant meeting they'd had;
That Crump was a "brick," and they always had known it;
And as to "white feather," he never had shown it.
While this clamour went on,
Where is Anthony gone?
Towards home to think over the blacksmith's "You're on!"

How many a man, in the heat of debate,
Has uttered some words he repented too late;
So Anthony now, when his spirit got cool,
Had a kind of a notion he'd acted the fool.
He felt sorely dismay'd
At the promise he'd made,
And, if truth must be spoken, was rather afraid.

The wild excitement of the hour
Was losing fast its hold and power;
And Crump now thought
That village honours, local fame,
And even Valour's courted name,
Were dearly bought

By reckless deeds and bold exploits,
(As meeting ghosts on moonlight nights),
And he could see
That lots of people could be found,
Who dwelt within the church bells' sound,
More fit than he